The Explosive Review - Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (1996)

Set in the backstory between "Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi", mercenary Dash Rendar assists Luke Skywalker in his efforts to rescue Princess Leia from the evil Prince Xizor.

Not bad at all, considering this is one of the first 'Star Wars' games released on the Nintendo 64. The levels are very expansive, allowing you to see in great distances and detail. The frame rate matches with the images and there's plenty of detail involved with the characters. Many of these levels are well designed and pretty cosy, not to mention, there's plenty of references and sets from the movies; you're bound to do a few levels here and there over again just for the fun of it.

It may seem a bit awkward at first as far as moving around and weapon switch, especially a few jumps here and there - You might be falling through cracks or off of ledges a few times before you get the hang of it.

There's space battles, swoop biker chases, and you even get to have a jet-pack - that's plenty of variety for a 'Star Wars' game right there. The Hoth battle is pretty cool the first time around but you don't get to take out as many enemies as there were in the actual film's invasion. The game also offers a variety of camera angles to choose from - third person, first person, overhead, and Hollywood. Each one is fun to play through with. The Hollywood angle is icing on the cake as it allows you to view Dash as you play him in a blockbuster film-like profile... http://explosive.today.com/2009/03/26/star-wars-shadows-of-the-empire-1996/